Published 20 July 2026. Analysis and views here are our opinion,
not a guarantee of anything. 18+, please gamble responsibly.
The Betfred World Matchplay is into its business week at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens, and it runs to Sunday 26 July. This is the 33rd staging of the tournament, the summer major of the PDC year, with all nine sessions live on Sky Sports. The first round pitted the top 16 seeds against the top 16 ProTour qualifiers, the second round plays across Tuesday and Wednesday, the quarter-finals fall on Thursday and Friday, and the semi-finals and both finals close things out at the weekend. The prize fund is £1,000,000, with £225,000 to the champion.
Luke Littler arrives as defending champion, having beaten James Wade 18-13 in the 2025 final for his first Phil Taylor Trophy. Twelve months on, the market rates him even shorter. He is a general even-money (1/1) to retain the title, which for a knockout of this length is a bold price on one player.
The case for Littler, and the case against
Even money says the layers see very little between Littler and the other 31. On current scoring and his record at this venue, that is defensible. The counter-argument is simple maths: the Matchplay is long-format across a full week, the top seeds are separated into quarters, and one flat session against an in-form floor player ends any run. Backing a single name at 1/1 to survive four or five matches asks a lot.
Luke Humphries is the second seed and second favourite at 9/2, and by most accounts his game has come back to the boil at the right time. After that the prices lengthen quickly. Wessel Nijman is a 12/1 shot, Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen are next in around 14/1, and Gian van Veen is 16/1. Van Gerwen sits in the same quarter as one of the other Dutch fancies, so his route is not the free run his profile might suggest.
What looks the smart angle
This is opinion, not a tip. If you already fancy Littler, even money is the price you pay for the standout player, but the value case for going short on him in a week-long knockout is thin. Humphries at 9/2 reads as the more sensible each-way anchor for anyone who wants the top of the market without taking 1/1 about a five-match sequence. Further down, 12/1 and 14/1 about Nijman, Price and van Gerwen give you players who can win any single leg session on their day, which is really what this format rewards.
The other honest point: the seeds do not always get through the first two rounds here. Blackpool has a long history of the crowd lifting an outsider, and the ProTour qualifiers are ranked on a full year of results, not padding. That is worth remembering before treating any second-round favourite as a formality.
What to watch this week
The second round is where the tournament usually turns. It is the first time the seeds meet each other or a qualifier who has already won once and settled into the stage. The quarter-finals on Thursday and Friday are the sessions that tend to decide the outright, and the women’s final also plays on the closing Sunday alongside the men’s showpiece in the evening.
Elsewhere, the summer sport calendar is busy around it, but darts has the Winter Gardens to itself this week and it holds UK betting interest right through to the final dart.
If you are having a bet on it, treat it as entertainment rather than income, shop around for the best price on your selection, and read the offer terms before you deposit. Any view here is our reading of the market, not a prediction of the result.
Sources: Sky Sports, Racing Post, Sporting Life.
